“Fake News” has become the buzzword that the dying mainstream media has been using to dismiss alternative viewpoints that may appear on the internet or in alternative media. While it is true that there are a large number of satire sites and clear disinformation sites on the web, mainstream media sources are focusing on alternative media websites who do not share their views politically and attempting to associate these sites with the “fake news” phenomenon.

Luckily, however, it seems that the public is not buying this recent propaganda campaign. A poll conducted by the Harvard-Harris group found that 65 percent of voters believe that the mainstream media is guilty of distributing false reports.

Harvard-Harris co-director Mark Penn believes that the extreme polarization on cable news channels is playing a major role in this negative perception that has been developing.

“Much of the media is now just another part of the partisan divide in the country with Republicans not trusting the ‘mainstream’ media and Democrats seeing them as reflecting their beliefs. Every major institution from the presidency to the courts is now seen as operating in a partisan fashion in one direction or the other,” Penn told The Hill.

The poll reportedly surveyed 2,006 registered voters from May 17 to May 20.